Posts

It’s All About Proportion

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3 July, 2012

In my Staple post about the dress shirt, I talked about the relationship between a man’s face shape and the spread of his collar. However, this only corresponds with face shape. If a man has a noticeably long or short neck, he’ll also need to purchase a collar that will help with those proportions.

Thankfully, this is pretty easy. If your neck is long, you need a tall collar.

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You don’t want to look like Ichabod Crane poking out of your shirt. A taller collar will keep everything else proportional and will continue to draw the focus to your face instead of your neck.

If your neck is short, then you need a small collar.

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Same principle applies. If a regular collar looks like it’s about to swallow your chin, then tone it down with a shorter option.

With the current trend in menswear being everything getting smaller, it’s a lot easier for the short-necked man to find his option than the brontosauri amongst us. If you do know where to find a good shirt with a tall collar, let us know in the comments.

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It’s a Popover

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2 July, 2012

One of the main themes of the site is the importance of using subtlety to stand out. Yes I advocate loud colors and stand-out items but there are times when you want your individuality to be a bit harder to detect. Here’s a perfect business-casual, going-out-to-lunch-with-clients-on-Friday type of look.

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Grey suit, white shirt – it’s about as basic as it gets.

But look a little closer and see all the small differences.

First off, the shirt is a popover – it doesn’t button down all the way. Still fits and looks like a dress shirt, but it has more personality.

Notice the tiny lapel pin. This is another area where it’s an obvious peacock that you’re putting something there, so the item itself can be insubstantial and small.

Lastly, he’s wearing a gold buckle with his belt. Typically a grey suit/white shirt combo is going to be paired with silver as it’s a more neutral color. The gold gives the look more irreverence and personality.

All of these are small details but they take the outfit from being great and plain to simply great.

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